Spring-eye



.'l-(No Model.)

W. S. RICHARDSON. SPRING EYE.

No. 587,198. Patentedsept. 8.1896.

me cams paens co. wreoYaLn-Ho. WASHINGTON. o, C.

UNITED STATES e FFICE.

,",ATENT SPRING-EYE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 567,198, dated September 8, 1896. Application inea January 22, 139e. serial No. 576,383. oro model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. RICHARD- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Spring-Eyes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in explaining its nature.

The invention relates to the herein-described improvement in spring-eyes, which is adapted to be used in connection with an engaging device in the nature of a ball.v

Heretofore the ordinary eye of a hook and eye has been engaged by a hook. It has been constructed to lie iiat upon the material to which it was attached and the hook engaged it by being passed beyond it, so that its end might be inserted in the space bounded by it and be then brought back upon the part which forms the engaging bar or end of the eye. This necessitates that there shall always be slack enough in the part to which one or the other of the two sections of the fastener is secured or attached to permit the hook and eye to be moved by each other and then drawn back to make the engagement.

This precludes the idea of obtaining a snug fit by such a fastener. I have ascertained, however, that by using,`instead of-a hook, a ball or similar device, and by employing, instead of the conventional fiat eye, a spring-eye, the practical advantages of the ordinary hook and eye, so far as cheapness in construction and ease of attachment are concerned, are obtained, and at the same time an added advantage is secured in that a connection between the two parts of the fastener is made bya direct movement of one toward the other, and which does not call for any slack in the material or thing to which they are attached, so that a snug union and fitting of the parts to which they are fastened may be secured. The ball member, or member of similar shape, may be attached to the garment or material with which the fastener is employed by sewing or by means of a metal fastening. The eye member may be attached to the material or garment by sewing or by a metal fastening. It is preferably made from wire, and it is provided at one or both ends with legs or their equivalent, by which it is held away from the surface to which it is attached sufficiently to provide a space or recess for the reception of the head of the ball between it and the material.

Reference is now made to the drawings in further explaining the invention, wherein- Figure l is a view in side elevation of my spring eye secured by stitches passing through its rear eye Yand forward loop or point. Fig. 2 isaplan in view thereof. Fig. 3 shows it as engagedby the ball member. Fig. 4 is a view in front elevation to show the form of the front leg which I prefer to employ. Fig. 5 is aview in side elevation representing a modified form. Fig. 6 is a view in plan thereof. Fig. 7 shows in side elevation, Fig. 8 in plan, and Fig. 9 in side elevation, and Fig. l0 in plan, slight modifications, to which reference is hereinafter made.

A represents the spring-eye. It has at its rear end the eyes a, by which it is adapted to be secured to the surface of the material or garment with which it is used, and it may have at its front end a point a', at which it may be secured to the material or garment. The opening of the eye is made slightly smaller than the greatest diameter of the ball or other member of the fastener which is used therewith, and it is bounded by the yielding sides or sections a2 a3, which are lifted or raised at one or both ends of the material by means of legs or supports. In Figs. l to 4 I have. represented it as having the legs a4 at its rear end, and the leg a5, which may be the point a', at its forward end. In Figs. 7 to l0 it is represented as having the rear legs only, and in Figs. 5 and 6 as having the front leg only. I prefer that the eye be made of wire, and in one piece, and shaped substantially as represented, the attachingeyes a being formed by turning the ends of the wire, the yielding properties being provided the sections a2 a3 because of their shape and the openings between the rear ends thereof. I do not confine myself, however, to the use of wire, because it is obvious that the same form of eye can be stamped or otherwise formed from flat metal. Neither do I confine myself to an eye having the three points of attachment, because it may have two, as represented in Figs. 5 and 7, or one only.

IOO

The spring-eye is preferably secured to one face of the material, fabric, or garment upon which it is used by stitches sewed through the attaching-eyes, and, if desired, through the forward foot a. It may, however, be attached by metalfastenings in the nature of eyelets, staples, or rivets. It is preferable that the chief points of attachment be back of the yielding sections a2 a3, as the draft upon-the spring is found to be somewhat better if it is so secured.

The ball or other member B, which en gages the spring-eye, is represented in Fig. It may be attached to the material or garment by sewing through holes in its iiange b, or it may be attached by a metal fastening, or secured to the fabric in any other desired way.

Any member the equivalent of a ball, and which will engage the spring-eye by a move ment toward it and into it to cause it to be opened and then to contract upon it, may be used.

The fastener is especially adapted as a substitute for the hook and eye, and where it is desired that a fastener having engaging members or parts which may be secured face to face upon the opposing surfaces of the parts of the material, garment, or fabric to which they are secured, and in use it will be seen that one member will engage the other by being brought in line therewith and pressed toward it, and that when they are thus engaged they cannot be readily disengaged by any straining or separating pull caused by the pull of one away from the other upon the same plane, or upon the plane upon which. they both are, such a draft only tending to more securely engage the two members of the fastener by causing the eye to be still more contracted, and to bind upon the ball with greater stress.

The foot a is represented as obtained by bending inward and downward from the spring sides sections of the wire or metal of which the eye is made. This construction provides the sides with slight additional yielding properties. It is preferable th at this forward leg or foot should be arranged in relation to the front 0f the eye so as not to interfere with the draft of the ball against its front, the shank of the ball bearing against the forward sections 0f the spring sides, and

to form a circular opening, connected at their forward ends in a manner to permit ofthe engagement of the neck of a ball member therewith, and having legs or supports a4 which extend downward immediately from the rear ends of said sections a2, a3, and are provided with fastening-eyes, all forming a socket member of a fastening device which is open at its top, closed at its front and back, the sides of which are yielding from the front backward, and engagement with which is obtained by the direct inward movement of the ball member causing the sides of the opening at the back to be separated, and which sides then close upon the inserted ball.

2. In a fastener of the character specified, a spring-eye having the top entrance a2, a" shaped as specified, a forward extension uniting the two parts and forming an outwardly-extending section or support a and the rear extension a4, as and for the purposes described.

3. A spring-eye made of a single piece of wire bent or formed to provide atop entrance a2, a3, the closed front extension a, the rearward sections al and the eyes a, all as and for the purposes described.

4l. The combination of aspring-eye having two yielding sides forming a holder for a ball and its shank and a spring extension at the forward end providing the front of the eye with increased resiliency and holding power,

and against which the shank of the ball bears when the two members are in engagement, the rear of said eye 4being practically closed, with the ball member adapted to be engaged with the spring-eye by a movement at right angles to the plane of the eye.

WILLIAM S. RICHARDSON.

IVi tnesses:

F. F. RAYMOND, 2d, J. M. DOLAN. 

